The effectiveness of the United Nations Global Compact

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the most prominent corporate social responsibility (CSR) organization – the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The initiative relies on volunteer participation and tries to incorporate CSR as a norm into companies’ activities through dialog and organizational learning. The rationalists blame the organization of ineffectiveness due to a lack of accountability and tensions between profit-making and CSR. The constructivists, on the other side, stress the significance of identity and the effects of norms on the behavior of different actors. The purpose of the research was to test the constructivist’ approach behind CSR and the UNGC and to see whether the UNGC has a potential to make companies-participants adopt CSR and contribute to its promotion relying on volunteer participation and norms.